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No bread is an island

...entire of itself. (With apologies to John Donne!)

I live and breathe breadmaking. I’m an evangelist who would like everyone to make his or her own bread. I want to demystify breadmaking and show it as the easy everyday craft that it is. To this end I endeavour to make my recipes as simple and as foolproof as I possibly can.

I call my blog 'No bread is an island' because every bread is connected to another bread. So a spicy fruit bun with a cross on top is a hot cross bun. This fruit dough will also make a fruit loaf - or Chelsea buns or a Swedish tea ring...

I'm also a vegan, so I have lots of vegan recipes on here - and I'm adding more all the time.

About Me

Torn away from the bosom of my family at the tender age of 18 - and never lived in my home town of Blackburn again. The RAF took me to HK; After a hitch of four years I emigrated to Australia and joined the RAAF, which took me to HK where I met my wife of 43 years. I then joined GCHQ which took me (us, with 2 children now) back to HK. Retired at 55, trained as a teacher of adults, gained a 2:1 in Teaching and Training at Plymouth Uni (which I thought went well with the 2 'O' levels with which I left school). And I've been teaching breadmaking ever since. Now running 6 or 7 classes a week, plus the odd Saturday workshop. My passion is breadmaking - or perhaps I should say the teaching of breadmaking; I'm also very interested in early development; And I like to cook - but I consider myself to be pretty average. I have a wife, two children, a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law and three grandchildren, (who can all make bread) who come and stay with us in the holidays and half-terms. Away from my family, I'm happiest teaching a Family Learning group, with parents and children, none of whom have made bread before. I get a real buzz out of turning people onto breadmaking.

Method:

1. Measure the water and stir in the yeast until it is dissolved. Place the flour, stock cube and curry powder into a mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast liquid.

2. Have a little water to hand to add if necessary, remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight). Begin to mix by stirring the ingredients together with a knife, cutting through the dough as it forms. When it gets too stiff for the knife, use your hand to squeeze the mixture together. As it forms into a solid mass, keep turning it over and pressing it down to pick up the flour at the bottom of the bowl – but make sure it stays soft. Don’t be afraid to add more water to keep it soft! When all the flour has been mixed in, wipe the bowl around with the dough, turn it out onto the worktop and begin to knead.

3. Knead by flattening the dough out, folding it over and flattening it again. If the dough is too sticky, instead of putting extra flour on your worktop, place some in the bowl, put the dough back in and turn it round to coat it all over. That way you keep the flour under control and you won’t be tempted to add too much. Knead until the dough becomes smooth – and then stop before you get fed up!

4. Leave to prove for about an hour on your worktop, covered with a dry tea towel. Or place in an oiled plastic bag – all day if necessary - until you are ready for step 5. Or go straight to step 5.

5. When you are ready to proceed, don't knock the dough back, just divide into 2/3rds and 1/3rd. Roll out the larger piece of dough about 4cm larger than your pie dish and place it over the dish, carefully pushing into the sides all round. Roll out the smaller piece to the size of the dish, and place on a floured piece of baking parchment. 6. Cover both with a tea towel and leave to prove on your worktop until the dough is risen and puffy, then fill the pie dish with the ratatouille filling (using a slotted spoon - you don't want too much liquid). Using the baking parchment, upturn the other piece of dough over the pie dish and filling and trim the edges.7. Leave a few minutes for the dough to recover, then bake at 220C for about 20 minutes, turning the pie if necessary to ensure an even bake.Filling (430 calories):250g celery - 20 cals100g onion – 31 cals115g cabbage – 15 cals64g carrot -19 cals100g cauliflower – 31 cals200 mushrooms – 15 cals2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed - 10 cals50g sun dried tomatoes - 90 cals800g tinned tomatoes - 152 cals 10g bouillon powder – 24 cals1 dessertspoon mushroom sauce - 15 cals1 teaspoon curry powder - 8 cals1 teaspoon mixed herbs Freshly ground black pepper to tasteSimmer the chopped vegetables in a little water until soft, then add the tinned, chopped tomatoes and flavourings. Reduce the liquid by simmering for 30 minutes. Adjust the flavourings, then using a slotted spoon, place the filling in the pie.This pie will give 4 generous servings - each containing less than 287 calories! I'm always blown away by just how encasing some good ingredients in bread dough massively enhances the flavour of those ingredients - whether it is a simple mushroom en croute, or a lovely vegetable pie such as this!

The dough is already rising

Now with the filling

Trimming almost complete. For reasons I don't fully understand, there is no need to cut slits in the top of a pie made with a bread dough

The trimmings were used to make a couple of spicy grissini (with a kink so they can be turned over if need be)

The bottom was lined with a piece of baking parchment

9th June 2013My latest attempt:

I made the dough with curry powder, bouillon powder, tomato puree and chopped s-d-tomatoes

The filling was again a rich vegetable sauce

The trimmings made two tasty grissini

There are 3 good servings in this pie - four with a few veg. I just have curried wedges with it.

3 comments:

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